Separable attachment-plug.



W.l C. JONES.

SEPARABLE ATTACHMEN PLUG.

APPLLCATION FILED JAN. 21. 1913.

Lg'?. Patented May 8, 191?.

4?... gung.

UMTED STATES PATENT @FFTCEG WALTER. CLYDE JONES, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SEPARABLE ATTACHMENT-PLUG.

Application led January 21, 1913.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, WALTER CLYDF. JONES, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Separable Attachment- Plugs, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this specification.

My invention pertains to attachment plugs of the kind known as separable, e., plugs which comprise two body portions separably connected together, one of which body portions is adapted to be inserted in a wall socket or the like, while the other carries binding terminals for leading-in conductors. It is a desideratum in separable plugs that the outer contact of the insertible portion be rotatable with respect to the remainder thereof in order to enable the plug to be inserted into a socket without twisting the conductors, and to lock the insertible portion in position in the socket, etc. Separable attachment plugs having a rotatable sleeve on the insertible portion, as heretofore constructed, have been subject to the disadvantage that the live contacts of the insertible portion were exposed, when the removable portion was removed, in such a manner that an ignorant or careless person, or a child, might easily receive a dangerous electric shock by touching them, or might short circuit these live contacts by placing some metallic object against them. It is one of the principal objects of my invention to provide a separable attaclmient plug, the outer contact of the insertible portion of which will be rotatable, and the live contacts of which will be protected, soA as to reduce, to the greatest extent possible, the chance of the occln'rence of accidents of the kinds mentioned above.

An attachment plug, constructed in accorda'nce with my invention is described, by way of example, in the following specification and shown in the accompanying drawing. I wish it understood, however, that the invention may be embodied in other constructions than that described and shown, and that changes may be made in the construction which is described and shown, without exceeding .the scope of my invention, as defined in the appended claims.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is an enlarged elevational view, in longitudinal section, of

Specification of Letters Patent.v

Patented May 3, i917.

serial No. 743,264. i

a plug constructed in accordance with my invention, the section being taken on the line 1 1 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 2 is an elevational View, partly in section, the plug being shown as having been turned through an angle of 90 degrees from the position shown in Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a plan of the plug, looking at thel is surrounded by a threaded Contact, which consists of a threaded shell 12 having its top end flanged inwardly and crimped beneath the top portion of a return flange 13 formed at the upper end of a metallic sleeve 14, the lower end of which is embedded in an insulating ring 15, formed of molded rubber or the like. The threaded shell 12, sleeve 14 and ring 15 together form a unit, and constitute the threaded contact of the insertible portion of the plug, this threaded contact inclosing the base 10 with the flange 13 in engagement with the shoulder 11 of the base, whereby rotation of the threaded contact, with respect to the base 10 is permitted. The threaded contact is retained in position upon the base 1.0 by means of a contact disk 16 -which is immovably mounted on the top end of the base 10 with its outer edge overlying the flange 13 of the threaded contact. rllhe disk 16 forms a sliding contact for the threaded contact and serves to prevent longitudinal withdrawal loo of the latter from the base -while permitv terminates flush with the bottom of the base 10. A forked contact spring 19, constituting one of the circuit-making contacts of the insertible portion, and having an inwardly extending boss 20 stamped in one of the arms thereof, is contained i-n the chamber 17. The contact 19 is held in place by means of a screw 21 which passes therethrough and through the disk 16 and base 10, the lower end of the screw entering a nut 22 situated between the arms of the contact 19. It will be seen that the screw 21 the arms of a forked contact spring 19 situated in'the chamber 18 of the base, all these parts being similar-to the screw 21, nut 22, and fprked contact spring 19 described above. The forked contact spring 19 forms the other circuit-making contact of the insertible portion.

The removable 'portion of the plug comprises an insulating block 25 of such a size that its top end conveniently enters the mouth of the` insulating ring 15 of the insertible portion. The block 25 has embed ded in the top part thereof a pair of binding plates from which extend contact tongues for engaging the forked contacts 19 and 19 of the insertible portion when the two members of the plug are connected together, these tongues forming the circuitmaking contacts of the Yremovable plug -portion. One of the binding plates lies somewhat below the top surface of the block 25, in which position it is secured by means of an ear 27l which is embedded in the material of the block, the corners of the plate 26, at the end thereof remote from the ear 27, being likewise embedded. The plate 26'is provided with a binding screw 27, toy which access may be ,had through a channel 28 formed in the top surface of the block 25.

lThe channel 28 terminates in a passage 29 which passes downwardly through the block 25 and communicates with an internally threaded chamber in the bottom side thereof, which .chamber receives a hollow externally threadedfbushing 30. As will be seen from Fig. 2, a lead conductor 31 may be passed through the bushing 30 and the passage 29 and along the channel 28 to the binding plate. 26, to which it may be secured by means of the binding screw 27.

The binding plate26 is formed with an upwardly bent tongue 32 which is adapted to enter between the arms 'of the forked ,contact spring 19 in the chamber 17. The

tongue 32 is formed with an aperture 33 extending therethrough, which aperture receives the boss 20 of the forked contact 19.

The second binding plate, 26, is similar to the binding plate 26 and is provided lwith a binding screw 27, to which a second lead conductor 31 may be led through a. passage 29 and along a channel 28, these parts being identical'with the parts 27, 31, 29 and In the use of the device, the insertible portion is screwed into a wall socket, lamp socket or the like, and a sad iron, electric fan, or other translating device, is connected to the movable portion by means of the conductors 31 and 318. device is not in use, the removable portion is separated from the fixed portion. When the removable portion is thus separated, it

,is hardly possible for any person to touch both of the contacts 19 and 19 simultaneously, since these contacts terminate below the mouths of the chambers 17 and 18, and are separated by the wall 18. Likewise, it would be dilicult for a. metallic object to be accidentally placed across the contacts 19 and '19. When the translating device is t0 be used, the removable portion is connected with the insertible portion-by pushing the tongues 32 and 32 into the chambers 17 and 18 and between the arms of theforked contacts 19 and 19. By reason of the duplication of the parts, it is immaterial whether the tongues 32 and 32 are made to connect with the contacts 19 and 19 respectively, or with the contacts 19 and 19 respectively. When the tongues have thus been connected with the forked contacts, they are detachably held in their connected position by means of the bosses 2O and 20a engaging in the apertures 33 and 33'. The removable portion may be connected to, or disconnected from, the insertible portion by a direct push or pull; so that, in case of an accidental pull being imparted to the lead conductor, as, for instance, by the falling of the translating device, the parts of the plug will simply separate, whereby injury to the plug, or to the socket, is avoided, and whereby the cutting oif of theJ current from the translating device is insured. The two plugs are so constructed that they will separate in theymanner described above, regardless of whether the When the translating wlietleer 'the pull is u :in :ingle to 'the ai. o'f plm'. 'Elie bl` l l; rter-t o1 'die msertible pori .t (i i 5 screwedmy as on. itliout twisting ons@j an end contact, at the top of szii'l bes( :i tin-end n sind buse r il Smil e.

1* eoniieeteo. to end een member 'o o :and construed' )ere mble onine v' 7 wh A ble eenall e une plug,

combination with an insertible portion coinprising en insulating bese, a center Contact mounted on the top of said base, a separable contact member oppositely disposed on said base, :i eonneetion extending through said base from the center Contact to the separable eontaet member, a stationary Contact mehr er mounted on the top of said base, e rotatable threaded shell mounted on said base :ind lmving' :L sliding engagement with seid stationery Contact member, u separable contaet inember oppositely disposed on seid base from said stationary Contact member, a Connection extending through said base connecting said separable Contact member with the stationary Contact member7 of :i Seperoble member comprising en insulating` base, separable contact members mounted on said base and cooperating with the separable oonteet members mounted on the insertible pon tion, And binding-posts mounted on seid separable member and connected with the separable Contact members mounted thereon.

in witness whereof, have hereunto subscribed my neme in the presence of two Witmessesr WLTER CLYDE JONES. TiJ'viti/iesses i time, CZEKALA. 

